by Tom Johnson Yep, you read that right: Dream Theater surprised their Barcelona, Spain audience in early 2002 with a song-by-song reading of the 1980s metal classic by Metallica, Master Of Puppets. You May Also Like: Metallica’s Remix of “Some Kind of Monster” Finally Fixed What’s Wrong With ‘St. Anger’Read More

by Tom Johnson A sadly overlooked band, the Trees got lumped in with the grunge movement in the early 1990s. What’s unfortunate is that, like fellow Seattlites Mudhoney, these guys were way better than what got popular. It’s a typical complaint, I know, but I dare you to listen toRead More

by Tom Johnson 2004’s Equatorial Stars seemed like a reunion after 12 years apart for these two ambient giants. After all, the last we’d heard from them was on Eno’s 1992 album Nerve Net, but little did we know that they’d been working together the entire time. This album pullsRead More

by Mark Saleski In a review of this artist, one writer said, “Oh … my … gawd. I was transfixed. Mesmerized. Jaw aslack. A pop music deer caught in Lewis’s headlights. It’s just one of those things.” Yeah, I wrote that. You May Also Like: No related posts.

by Tom Johnson, at the San Diego Sports Arena We drove over to San Diego on a Sunday night, not really getting on the road until about 8 p.m. I had been hoping for more like 4 p.m., maybe 6 p.m. You May Also Like: Anti-Mortem / Scattered Hamlet, JulyRead More

by Mark Saleski Back in the dark ages (read: before the Internet) I spent a fair amount of time searching out new music by paying very close attention to the listings of my local public and classical radio stations. You May Also Like: How Bennie Maupin Left Mwandishi Behind onRead More

On this special edition of Something Else! Reviews’ One Track Mind, we hand the reins over to blues legend Duke Robillard, founder of Roomful of Blues and former member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds. You May Also Like: How Pee Wee Ellis Finally Stepped Into the Spotlight With ‘Blues Mission’

by Tom Johnson 133t!11!! H4x0rd! w00t! LOL WTF?! OK! Pandering title aside, the concept was pretty cool: The usual NIN remix album that followed in the footsteps of a regular album, but this time it was accompanied by a DVD containing all of the multitracks for the songs — soRead More

by Mark Saleski Never heard of pianist Marilyn Crispell? I was first exposed to her work via Anthony Braxton’s momumental Willisau quartet recordings. Crispell has a unique style of play, which I put on the shelf next to Cecil Taylor and Keith Jarrett. This was her first solo record onRead More

by Tom Johnson The Wilco drummer turns in a surprisingly beautiful and effective minimalist classical drum suite reminiscent of the best works of Phillip Glass and Steve Reich. It’s not something that will get played a lot, and it’s probably not terribly original because it is territory that’s been coveredRead More